Elevator car door control mechanism



Dec. 9, 1947.

J. DI GIOVANNI 2,432,293

ELEVATOR CAR DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Aug. 19. 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 JOSEPH D Gwyn/v 3&1 A ATTORNEY.-

1947- J. D! GIOVANNI ELEVATGR CAR DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Aug. 19, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 'INVENTOR. Y

JqsEPn 01' 6 19 VA mw ATTORNEY,

Dec. 9, 1947. J. 0| GIOVANNI ELEVATOR CAR DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Aug. 19, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. a4 VANN/ JOSEPH D QW- gr 7' Arrmeusy Dec. 9, 1947. J. D] GIOVANNI ELEVATOR CAR DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Aug. 19, 1944 5 sheet s shee t 4 INVENTOR.

Jose? DLG/ovAu/w V V AITORNEI.

Dec. 9, 1947. J. DI GIOVANNI ELEVATOR CAR DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Aug. 19, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I INVENTOR. JOSEPH oi'CzlovmvNr. aw 211 :4

ATTUR Patented Dec. 9, 1947 EL VATO A R N OL MECHANISM Joseph Di Giovann Fairview, N. -J., assignor to United Elevator Service, Inc., New York, N, Y.

Application August 19, 1944, Serial No. 550,217

7 Claims. (Cl. 187-52) The present invention relates to means for opening and closing the doors leading to an elevator car and the shaftway therefor, particuiarly, for example, to a mechanism for operating the sliding doors with which automatic push button 01'- passenger controlled elevator installations are equipped.

Heretoiore in order to provide safe operation 'for the passenger, such automatic installations have included some means, for example, that known as a safety edge, which will cause the door to stop andreverse its direction of movement should the passenger come between it and the edge of the car or hatchway.

This safety edge usually comprised a short strip of rubber, mounted on metal pivoted on the door between the car and hatchway doors and arranged to operate a reversing switch for the motor which controlled the opening and closing or the door.

'Prior safety means have'not been fully satisfactory because they have, at times, caused the elevator motor to stall and thereby seriously slow down the operation of the elevator. Further, with the prior devices, there is always an attendant dangerthat passengers may become injured when, in an attempt to prevent closing of the elevator and hatchway doors, they fail to engage such safety edge or other safety means and they therefore become caught between the hatchway or car door edge and either door post, which :former, since it is positively driven by the motor operator thereof, continues its unstopped movement against them.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a safety means, which is designed and constructed to cause the car and hatchway doors or either oi them to automatically reverse in direction of movement and move away from the passenger should either door be touched or pulled upon, independently of engagement, by the pas s enger of a safety edge or other means arranged on the door itself.

Further with the saiety means used in present installations, despite opening the switch thereof, circuit of the motor operating the door may neverthelessremain closed and continue the positively driven movement of the door or doors toward or against the passenger, which continued positively driven movement may cause damage:

to the mechanism and injury to the passenger.

The present invention further contemplates the provision ofa coupling means between the door and its operating motor oi construction and arrangement such that, upon obstruction of the;

2 door, the operating motor therefor is automatically disengaged therefrom and therefore the door or doors cannot be positively driven against the passenger or obstruction irrespective of the proper operation of the switch designed to open the ncotor circuit.

The present invention still further contemplates the provision of a switch for the door operating motor that is automatically operated by closing movement of the doors and the imposition of an obstruction to such movement to reverse the door operating motor and leave free for the passenger entrance to or exit from the car.

The present invention still further contemplates the provision of positive drive means constructed and arranged to open and close the doors uniformly, gradually and slowly at the commencement and finish and so without jar or damage to the mechanism or danger to the passenger upon closing the door, this is accomplished independently of the operation of the door motor, in the event of failure of the switch to reverse the motor when the movement of the door is obstructed and, the obstruction removed.

With present automatic elevator installations, a coupling mechanism is provided for concurrently opening and closing the car and hatchway doors. The hatchway doors are each provided with a member or arm, which is engaged by a link or lever secured to the door, which latter must be sufiiciently close to the hatchway door member or arm to, at the correct time, engage it and so properly open and close the hatchway door concurrently with and under the influence of the car door but yet have sufficient clearance between the two so that they will not strike or rub against each other as the car moves past each normally closed hatchway door.

The present invention therefore still further contemplates the provision of a coupling means on the car door, arranged and constructed to automatically engage and grip a member or arm on the hatchway door just prior to opening the car (icon so that when the latter door is fully and firmly closed and the hatchway door locked, the door operator motor nevertheless continues operation to thereby cause the coupling mechanism to be positioned at such distance from the hatchway door member or arm as will allow the car to travel past those doors without strik ng the members or arms or in any way interfering with the electrical or mechanical door contacts.

Present automatic installations include a hatchway door lock which is retired somewhat in advance of the door closing position or in which a separate device is used to retire the cam lock after the door is closed.

The present invention contemplates the provision of means constructed and arranged to move the doors firmly and gently to the closed position whereat they are held before the door locking mechanism is operated by the same means to securely lock the hatchway door, whereby the concurrently operated hatchway door coupling and engaging means is coordinated with operation of the door look so that shock and strain on the doors or the door interlock are thereby avoided.

With present automatic installations, under certain conditions, the door operator motor may drive the door or doors against the door posts and door locks thereby causing damage to the door interlock mechanism and sometimes alarming the passengers by the resulting jar.

The present invention contemplates the provision of means through which the door or doors are comparatively rapidly operated during the intermediate portions of their travel but are gradually slowed down with a smooth or even movement as they approach full open or closed position whereat they are stopped slowly and uniformly without jar in their opened or closed position all this so accomplished even though a short circuit or other electrical derangement may cause the motor to continue its operation after the doors have been fully opened or closed and locked.

With present automatic elevator construction, there may be provided a construction for operating the doors manually after they have been unlocked with a suitable key. Should the doors remain unlocked in open position, serious damage may result from a draft caused thereby in the thus opened hatchway in the event of a fire in the building.

The present invention therefore also contemplates the provision of a door construction which may be opened manually but which will automatically close the doors in the event that the operative power therefor should be cut oil.

These, other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be clear and become apparent from the description which follows and the drawings appended thereto, in which drawings, schematically made,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a door operating mechanism according to my invention applied to an elevator door, shown in closed position and broken away to condense the drawing,

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof,

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 10, mechanism in coupled position,

Fig. 5 is an elevation similar to Fig. 1 with the door and door operating mechanism in fully open position,

elevator of the automatic push button orpassenger controlled type, wherein the C rt is moved to a floor in response to the initiation of the elevator operating mechanism by the passenger, whereupon both the car door and hatchway door are automatically opened to permit the passenger to enter and in which by suitable operation of the controls by the passenger the doors are automatically closed and the elevator moved to the selected floor and the doors again opened.

In the drawings only so much of the conventional elevator installation, schematically illustrated, as is required for an understanding of my invention is shown. Since the automatic controls are conventional, they need not be illustrated or an electrical circuit for operation of the elevator shown for an understanding of my invention.

In the specific embodiment shown herein, my inventive door operating mechanism opens and closes the door I0 which is suspended for sliding movement on the frame I2 of the car, generally indicated by the reference character M, as by means of the bracket l6 and roller I8.

The car door operating mechanism is mounted on the super structure 20 which is mounted above the car ceiling and includes a conventional reversible motor 22, which through the belt 24 and pulleys 26 and 28 operates the shaft 30.

Keyed to the driven pulley shaft 30, I provide the pinion 32 which meshes with the driven gear 34 mounted on the friction drive shaft 36. The driven gear 34 is mounted on the shaft 36 for free rotation thereon in order to provide, for the purposes described below, a frictional coupling with the coupling plate 38 keyed to the shaft 36 and which plate is held against the face of the gear 34 by means of the expanding coil spring 40, one end of which spring is mounted against the wall 42 of the superstructure 20 and the other end of which is mounted against the friction plate 38, the shaft 36 passing through the coil spring.

It will be apparent that, if for any reason, the shaft 36 is held against rotation, the gear 34, since it is positively driven by the pinion 32, will rotate on the shaft 36, but will slip past the friction plate 38, the shaft 36 to which the plate is keyed, having been held in stationary position.

In order to provide sufiicient friction between the plate 38 and the gear 34 so that they will normally be coupled together, I arrange on each suitable bands of friction material 44 and 45 (Fig. 8). I

In order to take up wear that may be incurred on the bands of friction material 44 and 45, I provide on the shaft 36 the threads 46 on which is arranged the internally threaded Washer 48 and lock nut 49, which may be adjusted against the spring to force the plate firmly against the gear, should the bands wear thinner or greater spring pressure be desired.

On the outer end of the shaft 36, at the outside of the Wall 50 of the superstructure 20, I mount the pinion 52 which drives the cam shaft 54 through the gear 56.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the operating cam 58 (which is shown in detail in Figs. 6 and '7) is 'there shown in the position normally assumed by it when the elevator door is closed. In this position the door lock 60 which is of the conventional electro-mechanical type for locking the hatchway door and concurrently closing the elevator hatchway door interlock circuit whereby the elevator is placed in condition for further operation, has been closed and the arm 62 of the bellcrank, generally indicated by the reference character 64, rotated about its pivot 66 arranged on the wall 50 of the superstructure 2 0 fliidil'lld'i down: in thatlposition againstiai tension means-, included in the: bellcrankv mounting, by

the pin 60'- extendingfromonesideofrtheacamiifi.

Extending: from: the othen" arm offthe bell? crank: 64% ISprovidethe-cablaor'chain I2; passing over." the guide' pulley- T4 mounted on the bracket I'B secured to th'e front walllstof'thesuperstruc ture and whiehcab'leor chainatitsotherend is secured tot'he pivoted arm 80 carried by. the bracket 82* on the elevator frame I 22 The other: end of the arm '80 is: pivoted to: the lock arm engaging plate" or cam; 84; which latter. in: normal position; whom the cable 12 is: pulled upwardly under the action of the bell cranka'arm fiz and'pin BB 'into the position illustratedin Fig. I", is held out of engagement with: the pivoted arm 86; extending from the lock 60 andwhich pivoted arm extfend's inthe hatchway in the path oft'he plate or" cam" 84, against a tension means carried on the bracket 82.

In orderto make the action at the engaging plate or cam against-the arm 8B of the door lock 60 more uniform and positive, 1- prefer" to pivot, by means-of the bracket 88; a second arm 90 the other end of which is similarly pivoted to the plate"- or cam 84; The arms S F-and -90 are of" equal size and move in parallelism with each other so that the plate- 84* will 'be movedhorizontally thereby against the-roller 92 on the" arm 86*totherebyclosethe door lock 60 m the mann-er and for the purposes that" I shall? hereinafter describe.

When the door is to-be opened the-motoroperator 22 is energized'by conventionakmeans, which therefore need not be described here; to rotate the shaft 54- and cam 58' through the frictional coupling and transmission gearing; that have described above, the cam rotated in the-direction of'thearrow 94' (Fig. I)

The pin 68 is thereby positively moved away from the arm 62 to permit the bell-crank 64 to oscillate into normal position (Fig, 5) in the direction of the arroW'QB (*Fig: "1). This move-- ment also permits the arms 80 and 1940 to; pull the cable downward inthe; direction of the arrow 98 to push the plate 84 into engagement-with the roller 92 on the arm 8-6, the door' lock engaging plate 84 and corresponding members assuming the position illustrated in Fig; 5' to. permit the door I0to be opened by the mechanism which I shall describe.

AsI shall in greaterdetailpoint out the enga iing plate or cam 84 is'moved in synchronism with and sufficiently" in advance of the door opening mechanism so that there will be no damaging force or impact applied tothelock;

In order to open the door by" means of the cam 58', I secure the lever I00, at its lower end, to the link I02, which latter" is pivctedyat' one end I04 to the door III and at its other end I05 to the lever "I00.

On thesuperstruc-ture 20, arrange the bracket support I 08'on which is carried the pivot elf-beari'ng- I09 on which pivot or bearing-the lever I00 is mounted.

For purposes which Ishall' further describe, I

secure intermediate its: ends the IevenI-l'il on the common pivot or bearing I 09. The upper end of the. lever II!) tends to be moved away from out of contact with the upper end' of the-arm 100 by the expanding spring I I2, which is normally compressed as will be described, and hasmount-ed on its lower end the: roller H041 which turnsxfreely to, B; the p n; Hairs. mov d aw afr maths 1 the; cam: 5h iswotated; for the; dooropening operationein-ithe.directionaof the arrow fl' l (Ei no force, during thevfirstlpart off'the cammove mentais :exerted'onxthe rollen H 4; .sincethe radius off the cam. from it starting point A to point B iSi thea same throughout. As a; result as; the camis: rotated; from A: to1B; which I term-- the neutral'zcam face, the-lever I00; remains station: ary andzsoa the elevator'door, through this:distance-of cam travel; doesznotg move open.

However-the pinlGB; moves away: from the arm fiinlthereby permitting; the armsrand' t0-mo,ve intdtthelhorizontal position illustrated: in Fig; 5 causing; the plate 84 th engage the; roller 9a and move the arm 86 from its normahpositionillustrated in Fig; I to unlock the door lock 60: The

lengt'lrof cable I21 and sizeofthe arms Bllsand' 90 are=proportional to the distanceonlthe cam: from A torB-so that? when point B onthecamisbrought intotengagement with the roller I142 asthe cam 58 is rotated, the door is unlocked-at that: point;

In order to couple the elevator door t0: tothe hatchway door I18 sothat they will be concurrently opened afterthe hatchway door-has been unlocked; I'provide the mechanism linkage that l? shall now describe;

Securedtothe lever I00, adjacent thecam 58, as by the pivot I20 I provide the link I22, which as willibe" described; is held against the stop pin I24 extending from asideof thecam 58 Pivoted intermediatethelink I22, I-providerthearm I26, atits'upper end is secured to the link I 22 by-theqoivot I 2.8 and at its lower end to ther roller support I30 by the pivotpin I32;

pling means I46, preferably in the form of an L. ironriveted-thereto.

The rollers I36 and I38; which are prejerably rubber covered, are spaced such distance thatth e flange "I of h ene ginemeans I1 6: will-pass r w e as h ,ca moves inthe hatchway so that th y will always. cleart s th i ar moves asta closeuzhatchway door...

When, the. car d or 1 is normally closed th pin I24 forces the link I22 downward a ainst the tension oi the spring I44 so that the roller sup;- nort is nQriIn IIY.- h ld: in h bstantiating hark ,zontal positionillustrated. in. Fig; 1, whereat-the rollers ISfiand I38,-arespacedaandclear th f an e 441 (see Fig.3)...

testicle am is moved throu h-the distance; A I22 toilet-wait undartlieinfluence of he-sprin I 44 therehynrctatinethe support 13.0 into; the position illustrated in Fig. 4, thus bringing'the rollersinto gripping. engag ment with the-flan prior to. or concurrently with the unlocking of the door switch, Bit described aboA e-and movement ofthercar door-10.; as will be'described hereinbelow that is, when the point. B on the cam 58 is brought. against. the roller I- I4.

*Entending'up from the-roof of the super-strum ture 20, I provide thetensionsupport arm :I 48 -t0 which is-secured one end or the spring 150, the

gradually,

and it also urges the roller II i against the face of. the cam 58 to thereby hold the car door I in closed position. The radius of the cam face from the center 50 of the cam gradually increases from the point B to the point C (see Fig, 6) so that, as the cam is rotated by the operator motor 26, the roller H4 will be pushed toward the left as viewed in Fig. 1 to swing the lever I00 about its pivot I00 in the direction of the arrow I54.

The radius of the cam from B to C increases then rapidly and then gradually again so that the door I0 is first opened slowly, then rapidly during its intermediate movement and then again slowly as full opening of the door is completed.

This operation moves the door into open position shown in Fig. 5. The arm I26 is concurrently rotated about its pivot I28 by the movement of the lever I00 acting through the link I22 which swings about its pivot I20, the mechanism assuming the position illustrated in Fig. 5.

The support I30 acting through the rollers I 36 and I38 which grip the flange I41 concurrently pulls open the hatchway door II8.

As the elevator door moves into fully. open position the roller I8 engages the switch I55 arranged at the upper part of the car frame I2 to thereby open the motor operator 26 circuit and so stop rotation of the cam 58. From the point C on the face of the cam 58 to the finger I58, the radius of the cam remains the same so that the door is without jar brought to a stop at its full open position with no possibility of damage to the motor or mechanism.

The doors are held open until operation of the motor is again initiated by conventional means and the cam rotated thereby in a clockwise direction. This operation of the motor fluence of th spring I50 when the point B on the cam surface reaches the roller H4.

At this point the hatchway door II8 is also closed by means of the coupling formed by the rollers and the engaging means I46. At this point of cam travel the arms 80 and 90 are still in the horizontal position illustrated in Fig. and the support at an angular position to the engaging means I 46, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

As the cam. 58 is rotated from point B to point A, the pin 68 engages the arm 62 to rotate the bell-crank 64 and move the plate 84 away from the roller 92 to thereby close the lock 60, the arm 85 returning to its original position.

Concurrently the link I22 is brought home about its pivot I20 by the pin I24 to move the support I36 into the horizontal position illustrated in Fig. 1, whereby the rollers are brought out of engagement with the flange I01.

,It will now be apparent that the elevator car will not move in the shaftway until the elevator door and the hatchway door are completely closed, since the door lock is itself not completely latched until this condition is attained.

Further it will be apparent that the elevator car will not move until-the means coupling its door and the hatchway door have been completely disconnected, which operation can only beper-formed after both doors are closed and concurrently with locking the door look.

It will be further apparent that both of these operations are positively performed only after both hatchway and car doors are closed and without possibility of attendant jar or impact.

Referring now to Fig. 10, I have there illustrated the position assumed by a car and the operating mechanism according to my invention when the door is prevented by an obstruction imposed between the edge IE0 or the door and the frame I2.

As illustrated in Fig. 10, the door at such time has been traveling from left to right and the cam 58 in a clockwise direction as viewed in that figure, as indicated by the arrow I62.

As previously pointed out the levers I00 and II 0 are both fulcrumed on the pivot I 09, the lever I00 being held by the spring I against the lug or ear I64 extending from the lever IIO to "hold the roller bearing II l against the face of the cam 58. When movement of the door is prevented by an obstruction in its path, such as the hand I66, the tension of the spring I50 is no longer transmitted to the lug I64 to hold the roller bearing against the cam.

Expansion of the spring II2 urges the arm IIO about its pivot I09 so that the roller bearing continues to engage the cam surface. Since the lever I00 remains stationary or swings in a clockwise direction about its pivot I09 under the impact of the obstruction, the upper portions I66 and I68 of the lever I00 and arm H0 will separate with a scissor movement under the influence of the spring 2.

This movement brings the finger I10 on the portion I63 away from the resilient contact I12 of the switch I14, which opens the circuit for the gate closing relay (not shown) to thereby reverse the operation of the motor 26.

The motor circuit is conventional and so arranged that when the gate closing relay circuit is opened and the relay drops, the circuit for the gate opening relay is thereupon completed to operate the gate opening relay to reverse the door operator motor and open the door.

In the event the hatchway door H8 is alone obstructed, closing movement of the elevator door I0 is prevented through the coupling means Hi6 and the rollers I36 and I33 which are connected to the lever I00 by means of the support I30, arm I26 and link I22.

The switch I14 is similarly opened by the re sulting movement'of the portion I68 away from the part I66 as I have just described.

In the event thatthe car and hatchway doors are suddenly pulled back against the tension of th spring I50 and immediately thereafter released before reversing of the door operator 25 permits the cam 58 to take up the load imposed thereby, the doors will not rebound and strike against the passenger or the lever I00 or roller bearing 'II4 strike against the cam 58 because of the action of the'conventionally constructed retarding mechanism I15 arranged on the roof on the superstructure 20, the arm I18 of which is connected to the opening I52 by means of the 3 til-iii. ilahe 'retarder :lzlfi :zopposes I! counterbalances xtlre action :.:of Ellhe :spring d150, thereby permitting :zthe rdoors to xclose :slowly. and :,gently zthe: action .of the spring T150.-

.elnxzthe event ithatcallspower is uturned off and the" car :zstalled at eat'fioor with the tdOOlQS .closed theilockrfilkmayhe un'latched'withza conventional key and sthe doors amanuallyzppenedoagainst Jthe tensionsofathezspring :rl lillzand held-sin :that position byisuitable:forceznpplied: thereto. :When this forc 2;isf:released,. the doorseawill'ireturn automaticallyito 'fclosedlaposition .underettliecaction of :the spring 1 501111 copposition ztolthesiretargding: mech anism 1:116.

@111 theziaventithat lthezcams 5B: shouldecontinue to rotate under the momentum of the m0t01222 orzafdrssome iother reasonktorrbring. itr-beyond .the positionwvhichritvwouid aassume'iwhen :the door is ccompletely top'eneid the rafinger J58 ewill zzbe brought;zagainstztheestopslug 11182: on. the .superstructure otoi ther'ebyrprevent: furtherr-movement of the cam.

Continued operation of the motor 26 therefore will 'not' cause ideran-gement to operaton of my mechanism or damage it because the plate 38 would under these"conditionsslip on the face 'of-etlae gear-=34vuntil thewmotor stopsoperating or is reversed.

In the same way, ,should the motor. continue operation *after'the-cam 58 'is" brought home into finahdoor closing positionptheifinger I58 willaeneas th lother stoplug'sta htoehold the cam stationary, whereupon ..the,:;friction v coupling. icomprisingatheiizalate- 38 ,.,.geari:.34a;and.=. spring 1.401 will likewise; function.

fit; will now be.apparentrithat iI rhaveuprovided echanisrmwherebyuthe opening and-closing rof iethei;elerator-.car. and hatchway door-is: =per- :formed by positive movement of a, cam, the profile of which will cause the doors to move slowly and gradually accelerate to then gradually decelerate and so come to a stop in either direction of :movement without any jar or impact.

Because of this operation it will be further recognized that the doors cannot travel beyond ;a certain position, no matter how the mechanism functions, so that they cannot damage door 71308135 or locks by impact therewith.

It will be further recognized that I have provided a mechanism, the operating parts of which will not function until after the car and hatchvvay doors have been first unlocked and all operating mechanism arranged in proper position. It will be further apparent the doors conversely will be brought to fully closed position before the door lock is latched and before the door coupling means is disengaged. All these flinctions are accomplished by a positive drive of the operating mechanism of my invention.

It will be further apparent that, if, for any reason the mechanism positively driving the construction of my invention is for any reason impeded, the operating mean will continue its operation but will be disengaged from the other moving mechanism.

It will be further recognized that I have provided a safety mechanism that will cause no damage to the operating parts or possible injury to a passenger whenever it is brought into operation.

While my invention has been described in detail with specific examples, such examples are illustrative and are not given as limitations since other modifications within the spirit and scope frllhii -Ye 'tfitll itii melanneren ztothe es si lee in the art.

iirence, :the invention is no :=b.e oindsrs eq as cot com ris n moto rictiona .o o aleverrivoted 1 upiv tallv tenslenm t1 u n rms onnative pesitigmtqu loe F i member se ure 1, to ;.th

H fill sai dycou r g am said arcuate surface moving said cam away from said element to permit said actuating means to move from inactive positon to unlock said door lock and away from said linkage to dispose the rollers in engagement with said coupling member, the face of said cam continuing from said first surface into a second surface gradually increasing in radius from the center of the cam for moving the lever from normal position about its pivot to open the doors.

2. In a mechanism for controlling the operation of an elevator car door and hatchway door, means affixed to said hatchway door and extending away therefrom, a member pivoted to said car door, a pair of engaging elements on said member spaced from said pivot, said elements positioned to receive said means therebetween upon movement of the elevator car into alignment with the hatchway door and means for rotating said member about its pivot to bring said elements into gripping engagement with said means automatically in advance of moving the elevator car door into open position.

3. In a mechanism for coupling an elevator hatchway door to an elevator car door, a member afiixed to the hatchway door and extending outwardly therefrom, a pair of spaced roller bearings, means pivoted to the elevator car door for carrying said roller bearings, said rollers positioned to receive said member therebetween upon movement of the elevator car bringing said doors into alignment with each other, means for operating the elevator car door and linkage connected to said elevator door operating means for rotating said carrying means about its pivot to grip said member between said roller bearings in 11 advance of opening the elevator door by the operating means.

4. In a mechanism for coupling an elevator car door and hatchway door together, means for opening the elevator door, spaced roller bearings, means for carrying said roller bearings pivotally secured to the elevator car door, means secured to the roller carrying means for connecting said carrying means to the elevator door opening means and a member extending outwardly from the hatchway door, said rollers positioned to receive said member therebetween upon movement of the elevator car to bring said doors into alignment with each other, initial actuation of said elevator door opening means through the connecting means moving said rollers on the carrying means to grip said member therebetween.

5. In a mechanism for coupling an elevator car door to the hatchway door, a lever for opening the elevator car door pivoted to the elevator car, a cam, tension means for holding said lever against the face of said cam, a pin extending from said cam, means movably mounted on said car door for carrying a pair of spaced roller bearings, linkage connecting said lever to said roller carrying means, said linkage in engagement with said pin and'a member extending from the hatchway door and normally positioned relatively between the rollers, said rollers positioned to receive said member therebetween upon movement of the elevator car to bring said doors into alignment with each other, upon initial movement of said cam, said pin movable away from said linkage and said roller carrying means movable into position to grip said member between said'roller bearings and continued movement of said cam moving said lever to open said elevator car door.

6. In a mechanism for coupling an elevator car door to the hatchway door, a cam, a lever pivoted above the door and at its lower end linked to said door, said lever normally held in door closing position against said cam, a member on the hatch- Way door, means for coupling the elevator car door to said member and linkage connecting said lever to said coupling means, said linkage normally held in engagement with said cam to position said coupling means in disengagement With said member, initial movement of said cam arranging said linkage to move said coupling means into engagement with said member and concurrently retaining said lever in normal door closing position, further movement of said cam moving said lever about its pivot to open said door.

7. The mechanism of claim 6 and including a door lock held in closed position when said lever is normally positioned to close said elevator door, and means for unlocking said door lock connected to said cam to permit said door lock to open upon initial movement of said cam.

JOSEPH DI GIOVANNI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Nielsen July 23, 1935 

